One Crazy Summer

Cross-dressing! Childbirth! Surfing Penguins! Sequels! at the Multiplex This Season, It All Adds Up to ...

John Travolta wears a dress!
OPENS July 20
STARRING John Travolta, Nikki Blonsky

For the movie of the Broadway hit about a Baltimore teen (newcomer Blonsky) who dreams of dancing on TV, Travolta got in touch with his feminine side by playing mammoth mom Edna Turnblad. Director Adam Shankman says the actor reveled in his womanhood ("These Sophia Loren characteristics started coming out"), but doing dance numbers in a fat suit was a hefty challenge: "A couple of times I almost screamed 'Timber!' I thought he was going down!"

Hungry for a remake of the '02 German import Mostly Martha? Zeta-Jones takes a zesty turn as a New York City chef who raises her orphaned niece (Breslin) while sparring with her kitchen's sexy new sous-chef (Eckhart).

As a kid, LaBeouf loved playing with his Transformers robots. Now he's starring with megaplex-size versions of his toys as a teen who holds the "life force" coveted by the Autobots (good) and Decepticons (bad). Dodging explosions and dangling 90 feet in the air, he says filming "was like going bungee jumping every day."

KNOCKED UP

Katherine is having a baby!
OPENS June 1
STARRING Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen

Grey's Anatomy vet Heigl heads back to the hospital to play a journalist who gives birth after getting pregnant from a drunken one-night stand with slacker Rogen. She donned a prosthetic belly for the comedy, but filming her childbirth scene gave Heigl some real-life labor pains. "She pulled her back out!" says director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin). "She was in so much pain from her fake delivery that we had to rewrite a scene so she could be unconscious."

Mariane Pearl (played by Jolie) was five months pregnant in 2002 when her journalist husband, Daniel (Futterman), was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan. Jolie teamed up with boyfriend Brad Pitt (Heart's producer) for the drama, based on Mariane's 2003 memoir.

It's year five at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (July 13). Everybody's favorite teen wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) tangles with a sinister new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (Imelda Staunton) and falls under the spell of classmate Cho Chang (Katie Leung).... Don't bet against George Clooney, Brad Pitt and the gang, who set out to rob Las Vegas casino baron Al Pacino in Ocean's Thirteen (June 8).... Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley set sail to rescue mascara-loving Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (May 25).... Jessica Alba and her super friends battle a metallic foe in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (June 15).... Bruce Willis returns as über-tough guy John McClane, battling a baddie (Timothy Olyphant) who attacks America's computer systems in Live Free or Die Hard (June 27).... As amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne, Matt Damon tries to unlock his past with help from Julia Stiles in The Bourne Ultimatum (Aug. 3).... Buddies Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker reunite in Rush Hour 3 (Aug. 10) to fight a Chinese organized crime family in—where else?—Paris.

EVAN ALMIGHTY

Steve meets God!
OPENS June 22
STARRING Steve Carell, Lauren Graham

After a small role in Bruce Almighty (2003), Carell meets the Almighty (Morgan Freeman), and is commanded to build an ark and gather animals two-by-two. On-set, "you got used to drinking coffee and looking at the giraffes," says Graham, who plays his wife. "Rosie the elephant was better behaved than my German shepherd."

SUMMER'S HOTTEST WEDDINGS
Look who's getting married!

Here comes the bride ... and grooms! In License to Wed (July 4), Mandy Moore and fiancé John Krasinski try to pass pastor Robin Williams's marriage-prep course. Shooting in Jamaica "was so hot and sticky, now I'm like, 'Maybe I don't want that tropical beach wedding!'" says Moore. Adam Sandler and Kevin James are also altar-bound in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (July 20), as firefighters who pretend to be lovers to score domestic-partner benefits. Jokes James: "My mom said, 'If you have to marry a man, I'm glad it's Adam, so at least you'll be financially secure.'"

NANCY DREW

Emma's on the case!
OPENS June 15
STARRING Emma Roberts

"I get scared pretty easily," says Roberts (Julia's niece), but she kept her cool during spooky scenes as the famous teen detective, who investigates an unsolved Hollywood murder. Even scarier: filming a smooch with Nancy's steady Ned (Max Thieriot). "We did 30 takes of that kiss! It was awkward."

ANIMATED ADVENTURES
Homer screws up ... even more than usual!

Penguins surf!

D'oh! After ruling America's TV sets for 18 seasons, Homer and Co. invade theaters in The Simpsons Movie (July 27), and the bumbling nuclear plant employee brings more than Springfield to the brink of disaster.... Penguins have marched and tap-danced; now they are hanging ten in Surf's Up (June 8), a This Is Spinal Tap-style faux documentary that follows a cocky surfer (Shia LaBeouf) who learns wave wisdom from a washed-up veteran (Jeff Bridges). "Penguins are taking over the world!" jokes La-Beouf. "Next they're going to make Raging Bull, the penguin version." ... And who says vermin and restaurants can't mix? A cuddly rat with culinary dreams partners with a garbage boy at a Paris bistro in Ratatouille (June 29).